1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a movable carrier for fixed supply lines which are placed along a telescoping airplane passenger bridge or jetway, and which establish communication between connectors on the airport terminal and corresponding connectors on the aircraft.
To prepare an aircraft which is parked at an airport for the next flight, the aircraft is supplied with air for air conditioning and take-off, as well as with electrical energy, which are supplied via suitable supply lines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 19 01 457 discloses disposing the carrier for the supply lines of a telescoping airplane passenger bridge on the movable tunnel sections. The telescopically movable conduits for the supply of air for air conditioning and take-off which are used with this heretofore known carrier are mounted next to and at a distance from one another, and the cable for the electrical energy is spaced thereabove on the respectively associated carrier. The supply of air for air conditioning is effected via a flexible tubing which is located in the conduit so that the temperature of the air for air conditioning does not change appreciably on the way to the aircraft. The cables for the supply of electricity are constantly kept taut via a tensioning device not only during retraction but also during extension of those tunnel sections of the airplane passenger bridge which are telescoped within one another. A drawback to this is that separate carriers are required for the air supply lines and the electrical lines, and that furthermore a tensioning device is necessary for the electrical lines.
A brochure of the company Teledyne-Inet of Gardena, Calif., discloses a carrier system for a wave-like or linearly arranged cable as a supply line; this system comprises a plurality of conduits which are disposed one after the other on a telescoping airplane passenger bridge. The linear cable sections are protected against damage or the effects of weather by the conduits which surround them, and the cable sections which are located externally of the conduits are supported on supporting members for forming bends. Two of these conduits are associated with each tunnel section of the telescoping airplane passenger bridge. Both the conduits in the base region of the tunnel and those above the tunnel section are linked with one another respectively. For the other supply lines, further separate carriers are required, so that the disposition and support of all of the supply lines is complex and expensive.
An object of the present invention therefore is to provide a movable carrier for all of the supply lines which are placed along a telescoping airplane passenger bridge which is simple in construction, is inexpensive to produce, and requires little space for placement or installation thereof.